Melanie Griffith
Biography
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress born on August 9, 1957, in Manhattan, New York City. She is the daughter of actress Tippi Hedren and advertising executive Peter Griffith. Raised primarily in Los Angeles, she graduated from the Hollywood Professional School at age 16. Throughout her career, she has been recognized as an Academy Award nominee and a Golden Globe winner for her work in film. As of her latest records, she has 109 known acting credits. Griffith is noted for portraying characters characterized by their strength and sex appeal across a diverse range of motion pictures.
Career overview
Melanie Griffith began her professional acting career during the 1970s. Her early work consisted primarily of appearances in several independent thriller films. In 1975, at age 17, she appeared opposite Gene Hackman in the film noir Night Moves, directed by Arthur Penn. She achieved mainstream success during the mid-1980s, rising to prominence for her performance as a pornographic actress in the 1984 Brian De Palma thriller Body Double. This role earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award.
Her most memorable and widely recognized role came in the 1988 film Working Girl. For her performance in this movie, Griffith received an Academy Award nomination for best actress and won a Golden Globe. Throughout her career, she has appeared in numerous motion pictures, establishing herself as a significant figure in American cinema. Her filmography spans several decades, reflecting a transition from early independent features to mainstream critical and commercial success.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- By Design (2026) as Narrator (voice)
- Melanie Griffith - Die Frau, die Hollywood überlebte (2026) as Self (archive footage)
- The Little Pageant That Could (2024) as Self (archive footage)
- Commitment to Life (2023) as Self (archive footage)
- The Kardashians (2022) as Self
- The High Note (2020) as Tess
- Howard (2018) as Karen (archive footage)
- The Disaster Artist (2017) as Jean Shelton
- The Pirates of Somalia (2017) as Maria Bahadur
- Roar: The Most Dangerous Movie Ever Made (2017) as Self (archive footage)
- J.L. Family Ranch (2016) as Laura Lee
- Back to the Jurassic (2015) as Tyra
- Day Out of Days (2015) as Kathy
- Nerd Herd (2015) as Celeste
- Automata (2014) as Dr. Susan Dupré / Cleo (voice)
- Yellow (2014) as Patsy
- Thirst (2014) as Sue
- The Grief Tourist (2013) as Betsy
- Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013) as Kristin
- DTLA (2012) as Kimberly
- Dino Time (2012) as Tyra (voice)
- Hawaii Five-0 (2010) as Clara Williams
- Hot in Cleveland (2010) as Melanie Griffith
- Raising Hope (2010) as Tamara Collins
- A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures (2010) as Snow (voice)
- Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007) as Self
- Viva Laughlin (2007) as Bunny
- Twins (2005) as Lee Arnold
- Lethal Seduction (2005) as Miranda Wells
- Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me (2004) as Self (voice)
- Nip/Tuck (2003) as Brandie Henry
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003) as Self - Guest
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) as Self
- Shade (2003) as Eve
- Tempo (2003) as Sarah
- The Night We Called It a Day (2003) as Barbara Marx
- Celebrities Uncensored (2003) as Self
- Stuart Little 2 (2002) as Margalo (voice)
- Searching for Debra Winger (2002) as Self
- Tart (2001) as Diane Milford
- Forever Lulu (2000) as Lulu Mcafee
- Light Keeps Me Company (2000) as Self
- Cecil B. Demented (2000) as Honey Whitlock
- The Book That Wrote Itself (2000) as Melanie Griffith
- Crazy in Alabama (1999) as Lucille Vinson
- RKO 281 (1999) as Marion Davies
- Hollywood Squares (1998) as Self - Panelist
- Celebrity (1998) as Nicole Oliver
- Another Day in Paradise (1998) as Sid
- Shadow of Doubt (1998) as Kitt Devereux
- The View (1997) as Self
- Lolita (1997) as Charlotte Haze
- Mulholland Falls (1996) as Katherine Hoover
- E! True Hollywood Story (1996)
- Clive Anderson All Talk (1996) as Self
- Lo + plus (1995) as Self - Audience Member
- Now and Then (1995) as Teeny
- A Night to Die For (1995) as Self
- Two Much (1995) as Betty
- Buffalo Girls (1995) as Dora DuFran
- Nobody's Fool (1994) as Toby Roebuck
- Milk Money (1994) as V
- Inside the Actors Studio (1994) as Self
- Born Yesterday (1993) as Billie Dawn
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)
- Shining Through (1992) as Linda Voss
- A Stranger Among Us (1992) as Emily Eden
- The Grand Opening of Euro Disneyland (1992) as Self - Host (US)
- Paradise (1991) as Lily Reed
- Pacific Heights (1990) as Patty Palmer
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as Maria Ruskin
- In the Spirit (1990) as Lureen
- Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) as Hadley
- The Simpsons (1989) as Melanie Griffith (voice)
- Working Girl (1988) as Tess McGill
- The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) as Flossie Devine
- Stormy Monday (1988) as Kate
- Cherry 2000 (1987) as Edith 'E.' Johnson
- Something Wild (1986) as Audrey Hankel
- Miami Vice (1984) as Christine von Marburg
- Goldene Kamera (1984) as Self
- Body Double (1984) as Holly Body
- Fear City (1984) as Loretta
- Roar (1981) as Melanie
- She's in the Army Now (1981) as Pvt. Sylvie Knoll
- Underground Aces (1981) as Lucy
- The Star Maker (1981) as Dawn Barnett Youngblood
- Golden Gate (1981) as Karen
- The Cheryl Ladd Special (1979) as Ellie - Waitress
- Vega$ (1978)
- Steel Cowboy (1978) as Johnnie
- Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This (1978) as Girl in Hotel Room
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
- Carter Country (1977)
- One on One (1977) as The Hitchhiker
- The Garden (1977) as Young Girl
- Joyride (1977) as Susie
- Once an Eagle (1976) as Jinny Massengale
- Saturday Night Live (1975) as Self - Host
- Saturday Night Live (1975) as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
- Starsky & Hutch (1975) as Julie
- Smile (1975) as Karen
- Night Moves (1975) as Delilah "Delly" Grastner
- The Drowning Pool (1975) as Schuyler
- The Harrad Experiment (1973) as Student (uncredited)
- Smith! (1969) as Extra (uncredited)
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self
- Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Presenter
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self - Nominee
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self
- Golden Globe Awards (1944) as Self - Audience Member
- American Housewife